


I'll Play You a Song (Into Your Heart)

by Wolfpup_4973



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Crushes, Family Feels, Fluff, I lovingly blame Cor, Jace Wayland Plays the Piano, Letters, M/M, Meet-Cute, Music, Simon Lewis Needs a Hug, based on a tiktok
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-14
Updated: 2021-02-14
Packaged: 2021-03-15 05:22:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,816
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29430936
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wolfpup_4973/pseuds/Wolfpup_4973
Summary: Simon didn't know that the cute neighbor playing the piano would be more than a crush. Everything changed when he gathered the courage to leave a request.
Relationships: Simon Lewis/Jace Wayland
Comments: 3
Kudos: 37





	1. Simon POV

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Cor321](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cor321/gifts).



> Lovely Cor, this is all your fault, but it was so much fun to write. I've teased you long enough with the sneak peeks. Its finally here! Enjoy!

It all started when a new guy moved into the apartment next door. Simon knew that he was fucked the moment he heard the piano start. 

_As if my crush on the guy couldn't get any bigger, he had to play the piano too,_ Simon thought to himself a few weeks later. Simon was laying on his bed, staring at the ceiling, as Jace started playing the piano again. Jace, with his perfect little smirk, was the most attractive man he had never met. He only saw Jace from down the hall or in the lobby, just barely missing each other. Simon sighed as he pictured what Jace might look like playing the piano. _What piano did he have? It doesn’t sound like a keyboard. An upright?_ His head gave a quick shake as he snapped out of his mind ramble. _Focus! You’re just going to request a song. That’s it, no rambling about_ anything _. Maybe a note would be better than in person?_ He knew that if he met Jace in person he would only stutter and talk about the most random topic, so he got off the bed to go write the note. _What am I going to write?_ Hey you don’t know me and this is crazy. Simon shook his head at the idea. _Okay here goes._

Dear Jace,

I’m writing to you because I love when you play. And I was wondering if it would be alright to make a request. When I was little _Titanic_ was my favorite movie. I would watch it with my dad and when he passed I couldn’t bring myself to watch it. Ever since you started playing, I’ve been so enraptured. It brings a smile to my face whenever I recognize a song. So I wanted to ask if you would play _My Heart Will Go On_? I know that I’ve only heard you play classical before so take your time if you need to practice. I know it’ll be perfect if you play it for me. Not that I'm forcing you to play for me! Feel free to throw this away if you don't want to do it. 

Thanks if you do play,

Simon, Your neighbor in 4B

  
  


_Is that too much information? Probably, but I’m too nervous to rewrite it. Maybe I could add a postscript?_ Simon bit his lip nervously, as the thoughts ran through his head. 

‘P.S. I’m sorry for the rambling. I tend to overshare when I’m nervous.’

_Wait, I called him Jace. He’s gonna think I’m a stalker. I don’t want to sound like a stalker!_ His eyes widened when he had that epiphany. He picked up the pen he had just set aside to add another postscript. 

‘P.P.S I’m not a crazy stalker, I promise! I just overheard your name when you were moving in.’

_That will have to do. I hope._ Simon psyched himself up to get the courage to leave it at Jace’s door. _I’ll just leave it at his door. I don’t even have to talk to him. I just have to knock and then leave._ Before he knew it, Simon was at the door in question. A fair sized ‘4C’ stared back at him. He let out a slow breath to try and calm his nerves. _Okay Si, just leave the note in front of his door and knock. It’s easy! You’ve knocked on thousands of doors before._ ~~_But this one matters, it’s my crush’s door_ ~~ _._ Simon shook his head to clear his head before those thoughts could fester and make him lose what little confidence he did have. His hands shook a little as he put the note on the welcome mat. 

_Okay I can do this. All I need to do is knock._ It was easier said than done. His fisted hand hovered as he stood, terrified at the possibility of Jace just ignoring the note. _You’ll never know if you don't knock,_ said a hopeful voice in the back of his head. Simon held that hopeful thought tight, gathered all his courage, and knocked on the door. 

He stood there, frozen, surprised that he actually did it. The sound of footsteps reminded him that he needed to leave before Jace opened the door, but he still couldn’t move.

A “Be right there” came from inside the apartment, which actually managed to jolt him from the spot he was stuck in, like a deer in headlights.

Just as Simon reached his door, Jace opened his. Jace looked around in confusion, wondering where the person who knocked went. His eyes landed on Simon, which caused him to raise his eyebrow. The lump in Simon’s throat prevented him from talking, but he looked Jace in the eye, then pointedly at the note, then back to Jace’s eyes. If he happened to check out his neighbor also, well, no one else had to know.

He picked up the letter in front of him, eyes never leaving Simon. He nodded to Simon in thanks and walked backwards into the apartment, eyes, yet again, never leaving Simon.

After Jace closed the door, Simon let out the breath he didn’t know he was holding. He chuckled deliriously, relieved that he had done it. He gave Jace the note. _And now we wait._

And wait he did, while not always patiently he still held out hope that the blond would play it some day soon. 

Simon was cooking dinner a few weeks later when he heard it. The first notes to _My Heart Will Go On_ reverberated around the room as tears started welling up in his eyes. It was the perfect thing to hear after a shitty day at work. He set the stirring spoon down to cover his mouth in shock. As the notes continued, Simon was overwhelmed by the memories of his father. The memories of the tradition of the whole family coming home from the synagogue and watching Titanic. Somehow, he always ended up in his father’s lap, paying more attention to him mumbling lines and singing under his breath than the actual movie. Simon felt a bittersweet smile stretch across his face as the tears lost their fight to gravity. 

_It’s perfect,_ Simon thought as he turned off the burner and sunk to the floor. He could almost feel his father’s arms wrap around him as the famous melody started. If he focused hard enough he could swear that he smelled his father’s aftershave, warm and distinctive. _I love you dad_ , he thought, arms wrapped tight around his knees. _I hope you would’ve liked the man I’m becoming._

He sat there, tears flowing freely and knees pressed to his chest, until the final notes came. Simon knew that he had to thank Jace in person. He didn’t care that he was bawling, he had to do it now. 

Before he even realized he was moving, Simon was knocking at Jace’s door. When the door opened Jace had a look of concern on his face. A look which made the butterflies in his stomach flutter, which Simon promptly ignored as he started to speak.

“Thank you, Jace” Simon said as he wiped the still falling tears from his cheeks. “You’ve given me a part of my father back. A part that I thought I lost when he died and couldn’t bring myself to watch the movie. I can’t thank you enough, but maybe I can start with dinner? I just put it on the stove when you started playing.” He was rambling and he knew it, but he couldn’t stop the word vomit that exited his mouth. He didn’t even register that he asked him out until he replied.

“I’d love to.” Jace cut him off with a smile. 

“Yeah?” He said, hope replaced the tears in his eyes.

“Yeah.” 

“Thank you again, it was perfect.” Simon said as he opened the door to his apartment, letting Jace enter first. 

“Well, how else was I going to flirt with you?” Jace said with a cheeky grin as he walked passed.

  
Simon’s cheeks were bright red, but he didn't care. _Jace wants to flirt with me._


	2. Jace's POV

Jace knew he was fucked when he caught sight of his neighbor, geeky pun t-shirt and thick rimmed glasses and all. Somehow he could never manage to,  ~~flirt with~~ , introduce himself to the beautiful stranger. 

Jace smiled as he trailed his fingers along the top of the baby grand piano when he entered the apartment. The Lightwoods got it for him when he was officially adopted. While it might not have been the prettiest piano ever, with all the dents and dings that it got over the years, but it was the one that he, Alec, and Izzy would flock to when the nightmares were too vicious to sleep after. They laid under the piano, huddled together so all three of them could fit, for hours until the sun rose and painted the white piano pink. Sometimes they just sat in silence, each other’s presence was enough to drive the nightmares from their minds. Every once in a while, the silence was suffocating. On those days they would talk in hushed whispers and traced the wood grain with their fingers. After a while, they started to make up shapes, or runes as they called them. 

They gave each one a name over the years. ‘Parabatai’ when the adoption became official and Jace was their brother legally and not just in bond. ‘Iratze’ for healing after Jace broke his arm after he fell out of a tree trying to show off. ‘Calm anger’ after Izzy had a big fight when she told their parents she wanted to be a doctor for the first time. ‘Philia’ for when Alec came out as gay and both Jace and Izzy still accepted him. One year, they painted the runes on the underside of the piano. It was Jace’s idea, after one such nightmarish night.

_ “Come on no one’s going to know if we keep them on the underside,” he said. Alec’s raised eyebrow and braced shoulders were enough of an answer for Jace. “Come on Iz, think about it. We’ve been staring at the underside of this thing so much we might as well decorate it.” _

_ “I don’t know Jace, are you sure about this?” came Izzy’s reply. “Alec? What do you think?” _

_ “I think its a dumb idea,” he rolled onto his back so we could look at both of them, “but we’ve stared at this thing so much I might go insane if I have to stare at plain white wood a second longer.” _

_ Jace cheered as he brought out the black paint he had hidden. “Which rune do you want to be first?”  _

_ Alec thought for a minute, fiddled with a brush, and said “ How about the one that started it all, the Parabatai rune?”  _

_ “I thought the one that started it all was Angelic Powers?” Izzy corrected.  _

_ “Angelic Powers was the first one we put a name to, but parabatai was the first one all three of us worked on together.” _

Jace smiled at the memories that sprouted and made a mental note to have Alec and Izzy over for dinner once everything was settled.

It took a few days for the first request to arrive after he started playing. Sadly, this one in particular wasn’t from the neighbor he wanted it to be from. It was for  _ Moonlight Sonata _ , a piece that he'd played a thousand times. He could probably play it in his sleep if his dreams weren’t occupied by a certain neighbor in 4B. He sighed as he sat at his piano. If he was practicing he might as well start with that one. He had just barely brushed his fingers against the keys when there was a knock at the door.

“Be right there,” he called out, trying not to get his hopes up on who it might be.  _ Is it him? Is it finally the time to learn his name? _

He took a deep breath before he opened the door. He cocked his head, but no one was there. As he looked around, He locked eyes on  _ him _ , the cute neighbor he was  ~~ crushing on ~~ intrigued by.  ~~ No matter how much Izzy said otherwise ~~ .

He just barely caught his eyes looking at the welcome mat. There was a note. Jace’s heart fluttered.  _ Was he the one to leave the note, or did he just notice it as he opened the door?  _ As he crouched down to pick up the note he also, secretly, checked out his neighbor. His eyes roamed up and down the form in front of him. When he was standing straight again, he nodded in thanks for pointing out the letter left in front of his door. After he closed the door, Jace leaned back against it and sighed. With a shake of his head he thought  _ What is with me, sighing forlornly after barely interacting with a guy? I’m better than this! _ When his eyes landed on the signature on the letter he couldn’t help the smile that crossed his face.  _ So his name is Simon. _ He tilted his head as he read the letter.  _ Of course he rambles, so cute. _

_ … Dammit. _

_ Izzy was right. I do have a crush.  _

Though he would never tell anyone about how fast he ran to the computer to get the sheet music, he might, one day, tell everyone about the smile that stayed on his face for the rest of the day.

~~~~

Jace winced as he played the wrong note,  _ again _ . He was practicing when he knew that Simon wouldn’t be home to hear him mess up.  _ How am I messing up so bad? The notes are 16ths notes at the hardest. _ He looked at his hands, shaking with nerves.  _ Oh, that’s why. _

Jace sighed and he stood up.  _ I have to practice if I want to get it right.  _ He walked into the kitchen to get a glass of water to try and calm his nerves.

  
  


He heard a faint but distinct sound through the wall, Simon had just gotten in the shower.  _ Makes sense. Looked like he had a rough day.  _ He could almost see the light bulb that went off.  _ What if I play it today? Do you think he'll like that? He said that it reminds him of his dad? Could it be the anniversary? _ He sighed.  _ Even if it was I have no way of knowing. Well, might as well then. On the bright side it might cheer him up.  _

He faintly heard the shower turn off in the middle of his musings, but that just made Jace more nervous. He knew that he was being stupid about this, but he wanted it to be perfect. His hands were shaking again.  _ Okay, playing a wrong note won’t be the end of the world. I can do this. _ He let out a long breath as he tried to calm his nerves one last time. 

_ Here goes nothing _ , he thought as he sat in front of the piano. His hands were still shaking minutely, but he didn’t care at this point. He was playing the song today, he had to if there was even a chance of making Simon feel better. One last long deep breath before Jace started to play. He lost himself in the music, using his desire to make Simon feel better a driving force to play his absolute best. Before Jace knew it, the song was over. Not a single mistake, to his surprise. 

A knock at the door startled him out of his stupor. As the door opened, the first thing he saw were the tears.  _ Why is he in tears? Did I choose to play it at the right time? Wait! Is it the anniversary? Fuck, what if it is?  _

Jace’s inner monologue was cut off by Simon. “Thank you, Jace. You’ve given me a part of my father back. A part that I thought I lost when he died and couldn’t bring myself to watch the movie. I can’t thank you enough, but maybe I can start with dinner? I just put it on the stove when you started playing.”

“Yeah,” Jace said as he smiled, hearts already dancing in his eyes.

“Yeah?” Simon asked, making his stomach at the hope in the brunet’s eyes. 

“Yeah.” With a barely perceptible nod and an after-you gesture, they walked to Simon’s apartment. 

“Thank you again, it was perfect.” Simon said as he opened the door. 

“Well, how else was I going to flirt with you?” Jace gave a cheeky grin as he walked past Simon and into the apartment. Out of the corner of his eye, the blond saw his cheeks redden, causing him to smile a little more genuinely. Jace was leaning against the wall when he said, “So, what’s for dinner, handsome?” 


End file.
